Auction Service

A former executive of one of the country’s biggest sellers of sports memorabilia had agreed to cooperate with federal authorities after he was charged with fraud in 2012 but instead obstructed justice by tipping off an associate to plans by the FBI to raid his home, federal prosecutors revealed Monday. The disclosure came as Doug Allen, the former president and chief operating officer of Mastro Auctions, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud while admitting he took part in a wide-ranging scheme to rig auctions on collectors’ items ranging from purportedly rare baseball cards to a phony lock of Elvis Presley’s hair. Allen marks the third former...

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A former executive of one of the country’s biggest sellers of sports memorabilia had agreed to cooperate with federal authorities after he was charged with fraud in 2012 but instead obstructed justice by tipping off an associate to plans by the FBI to...

A former executive at a sports memorabilia auction house pleaded guilty today in federal court in Chicago to an eight-year scheme to rig auctions to drive up prices on rare baseball cards, game balls and other collectors’ items.
Mark Theotikos, who...

The undergraduate diploma of the nation’s first African-American to graduate from Harvard is set to be auctioned in Chicago tomorrow, years after it was unearthed in an Englewood home.
Richard T. Greener’s bachelor of arts diploma -- commended in June...

A charity that provides financial support to injured Chicago police officers and the families of those killed in the line of duty will install as many as 100 life-size horse statues throughout downtown Chicago this fall, organizers said Sunday at an event...

Bob Dylan's handwritten manuscript for "Like a Rolling Stone" sold for just over $2 million on Tuesday at Sotheby's rock and roll auction, which also included memorabilia from the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley.The price for the...

The former owner of New York restaurant Cru plans to sell a collection of almost 100,000 bottles of wine valued at $15 million, including choice Burgundies and more than 750 cases of Chablis.
Wally’s Auctions will handle the sale for Roy Welland, who...

The U.S. government plans to auction about 30,000 bitcoin, the electronic currency, valued at about $17.4 million, on June 27 the U.S. Marshals Service said. The bitcoin were seized during an FBI raid in October on the Internet marketplace Silk Road,...

Steve Ballmer's $2 billion offer for the Los Angeles Clippers — nearly four times the record sale for an NBA team — has experts puzzling over how the former Microsoft chief plans to make any money on the deal.
But Ballmer, with a net worth estimated at...

Coming to North Michigan Avenue later this week: Fifty custom-made pairs of ballpark seats — a public art project and fundraiser celebrating Wrigley Field’s 100-year anniversary.
The 100 seats will depict a “special moment in time” at the iconic...

Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan appears warm and fuzzy on the cover of this summer’s PAWS Chicago magazine, cradling his black cats and cracking a wide smile, an image that has social media buzzing.
The photo shows Corgan, who owns a tea shop...

A downstate Illinois man who was with the late Beatle George Harrison in 1963 when the music great bought an electric guitar at an Illinois music store was shocked to find out that the instrument fetched $657,000 at auction Saturday.
"$657,000? Oh...

Attendees at the 11th annual Cuisine for a Cause raised more than $160,000 to help local families in financial crisis. Since its inception, the event has raised over $1 million for Naperville CARES, a volunteer-driven organization that helps local...

Part of an art collection assembled by an esteemed Chicago couple is expected to draw millions of dollars in sales tonight and tomorrow during a Christie's auction in New York.
The vast collection of Edwin A. and Lindy (Betty) Bergman, assembled over a...

Back in 1963, Gabe McCarty was living in downstate Benton and playing bass for the Four Vests when he got a call from a woman whose younger brother was visiting after scoring a hit in England.The woman was Louise Harrison and her younger brother,...

JOLIET, Ill. (May 8, 2014) - CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Will County, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit serving abused and neglected children in the Will County juvenile court system, announced today that it will host the Golf for the Child...

Just as the Chicago area is getting ready for air conditioning weather, residents can expect to be jolted by higher electric bills.
Starting June 1, Commonwealth Edison customers on average will see monthly bills jump 21 percent, to about $82 a month...

A sell-out crowd gathered on April 30 for a gala dinner in support of the North Suburban YMCA's Strong Kids Fund. With 411 guests in attendance, the 8th Annual Ken & Alta Thiel Strong Kids Dinner at the Hilton Chicago-Northbrook was the largest...

WASHINGTON — Most women could never put themselves in Denise Austin's shoes. It's not easy to imagine what life must be like for the honey-haired, 57-year-old fitness guru.
And besides, the size sevens won't fit.
"She's got really small feet,"...

St. Francis Xavier's biennial school auction continued its tradition of fun and fundraising on Saturday, April 5, 2014. A gigantic tent was raised in the parish's east parking lot to host a senior event and mass at 2 p.m. followed by the main event,...